


Like calls to like

by Decayingrose



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Powers, Angst, Eventual Romance, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), Horror, Jedi Training (Star Wars), M/M, Multi, Slow Burn, Soulmates, The Force Ships It (Star Wars), Violence, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:53:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27771067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Decayingrose/pseuds/Decayingrose
Summary: Inspired by the Grishaverse trilogyRey, a survivor from Jakku is conscripted into a war against the Sith, when a hidden power is unlocked on her first mission, she only has one man that can teach her the ways of the force. Can she trust him with her life or will it be ripped from her?
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	1. Author's note

**Author's Note:**

> So i have recently read the Grishaverse trilogy by Leigh Bardugo in anticipation of the netflix adaptation. And i got major reylo vibes from this. Obviously i had to write a fic to get it off my mind.
> 
> This will contain heavy spoilers for the series so if you haven't read the books I recommend you do that beforehand.
> 
> Spoilers beneath this

This is based around the grishaverse series with star wars lore. 

Leigh Bardugo uses Ravkan terminology which is loosely based on the Russian langauage, i have taken some of the words she uses and mixed them with Russian words in this fic. 

I will be adding tags in each chapter and trigger warnings in the AU notes.

I am not Russian, so if there is any mistakes please let me know so i can correct it.


	2. The power within

CHAPTER 1-THE POWER WITHIN 

There was not much to be said about the girl from nowhere. A dirty faced orphan found in one of the worst possible places to leave a child-Jakku, the desert like landscape filled with more metal junk then sand it seemed. And it was here that the young girl was found nestled between 2 metal plates that acted as her home. 

Her eyes shot open when a large shadow covered her young sleeping form. She jostled to her feet, the pipe she used as a weapon clutched in her scarred hand. There was a voice in her head, one that she had from birth telling her if there was danger. And looking at this fat disgruntled man in front of her, her sense didn’t once flare up. She was different and she had always known this, somewhere deep inside of her.

The man looked directly at her and her metal home.

“You make this” he grunted at her, indicating the shelter behind her. She shrugged.

“What’s it to you” she replied haughtily, the metal pipe hurt her hand as she clutched it tighter.

He nudged his head to the side indicating the sand skiff parked outside of her settlement, it was an old fashioned imperialistic skiff, one that they probably had used in the war, but she doubted this man had ever needed to fight a battle unless it was which meal to tuck into next. Black smoke billowed out from the engine.

She regarded him intently, it wasn’t her job to guess what he wanted from her.

“Fix this” he all but spat at her.

She crossed her arms in front of her like a petulant teenager. 

“What do I get out of this” she’d be damned if she did anything for free. 

The large man wiped his brow with his sweaty hand, to outsiders even this mid-morning sun was sweltering. He opened a pack which has been hidden under his vest top and pulled out military grade rations. 

Her stomach grumbled painfully, her last meal had been dried leathery unknown meat and that was 2 days ago. She supposed it couldn’t hurt to fix his skiff, at least for something to eat. It wasn’t like she was degrading herself for the basic of necessities like she had seen some of the other woman do.

“Ok, I’ll do it”

The man barely managed a smile at her.

“Brilliant”, the man led her to the skiff and lifted the hood where the smoke was, she registered the problem straight away, her years of experience coming in handy for such a job. 

She ran back to her shelter and grabbed her tool box, thankfully she didn’t need any other supplies. She got to work immediately, her rough hands pulling at cords and screws. The man sat down next to her on a piece of outcropping metal, he watched her work until the sun was starting to rise higher in the sky. 

She hated being watched, what did he expect, her to start glowing. She shook her head at the silly thought. Finally, the last stretch, the cutting and rewiring of the cables to kick-start the engine. 

“What’s your name?” the man asked out of the blue. Snip. She nearly cut her finger off in the process, those red ones were always the worst.

She turned to face him, what could it hurt she would never see him again after this. Snip. The cutting recommenced.

“I’m Reyna” Snip.

“Where are your family?” he spoke again. She signed in annoyance.

“Obviously not here or I wouldn’t be alone”. Snip. She’d cut the wrong wire.

“Are they dead?”. The questions just kept coming. Snip.

“I don’t know”. Reyna tied the last wire, and turned the engine on. The skiff made some horrible noises before the constant rumbling of the engine kick started. She smiled at her achievement, finally she could eat something. Her day couldn’t get much better than this. At that sudden thought, her forehead furrowed. Saints, please tell her this wasn’t all her life was going to be, she’d probably be dead by the time she was an adult.

The man stood from his uncomfortable seat and walked over to the skiff inspecting her handy work. He turned to her small form, a deafening silence between them.

“Reyna, how well do you know imperial machinery” he asked.

She narrowed her eyes in confusion, why was this man still here, just give me the damn rations already, she thought to herself.

“Hmm, well most of the wreckage around here is imperial so yeah I know quite a bit, what does this have anything to do with it, I promise I didn’t sabotage the engine” she answered despondently, maybe she wasn’t going to get the food.

He put his hand up to silence her next reply. The door to the skiff opened up and he sat down behind the controls. She scrunched her eyes up trying not to cry, it was a waste of precious water.

“Oi, you coming” 

“What are you talking about, going where” Reyna was even more confused, did she misread the conversation.

“Reyna, my name is Unkar Plutt, I run an orphanage and a repair shop for imperial warfare, your skills are some of the best I’ve ever seen. I want you to come with me back to the orphanage, you’ll be fed, have shelter, education.” His tone was serious.

Reyna couldn’t believe her ears, this man wanted to take her away. 

“I don’t know if I can, what if my parents come back, they won’t be able to find me”

“Reyna, your parents aren’t coming back, if they were still alive, you wouldn’t be here, come with me please” 

A single warm tear slid down her freckly tanned cheek, she knew he was right, but there was a part of her that was afraid to move from this disgustingly sandy place, it was all she’d ever known. The power within her hummed in her mind, it was forcing her feet to the skiff, she would be a fool to ignore the calling when it had never let her down before. 

There was nothing she needed from her shelter, no personal belongings, no pictures of family or toys. She opened the other door and climbed into the skiff. 

“Here as promised”. The man shoved the rations into her hand, she gave him a gentle smile.

The skiff began to move, she watched the only place she had called home grow further and further away until there was nothing but a barren desert with no signs of life.

Her eyes started to feel heavy, she didn’t know if it was lack of sleep or just the feeling of being safe for the first time.   
“You can call me Rey, if you want” her honey coloured eyes drifted shut and the only acknowledgement she received was a that suits you better.

5 YEARS LATER

Rey ran through the kitchen balancing plates and bottles of kvas and vino. Unkar had told her earlier that they were expecting new transfers into the orphanage. The 5 years since she’d been with Unkar were the best years of her life. 

She still remembers her first day when he had saved her from a short life in Jakku. The housekeeper a frail looking old woman, with big eyes circling her like an eagle does its prey. She turned Rey’s face this way and that way, pinching her cheeks and stroking her face.

“She’s an ugly little thing, no child should look like that and so skinny, the lyubovnitsy at the palace would be jealous, if only her ribs weren’t showing.” The housekeeper tutted and dragged her off to be properly bathed and dressed. 

Over the coming years, she had become friends with the housekeeper, Maz is what she called herself. She was the strangest woman alongside her husband Chewbacca who everyone affectionately called Chewie. Chewie was the head chef and gave Rey cooking lessons and introduced her to the best food Niimask could offer.

It was decided for Rey to officially be a somebody, she would need a last name. The day of her rescue she became Reyna Niimask. 

Niimask was a beautiful place, but Rey found it boring, the past 5 years although had been the best years of her life had been painfully and utterly boring. Rey could hear Maz telling her to find her adventure, her story. The nights were particularly painful, Rey had never liked the dark.

She had never allowed herself to dream in Jakku, what was there to dream about. In her soft bed made of wool and heavy fabric she dreamt about her parents, other nights her dreams would become nightmares and she would look down at her dead body slowly becoming covered in sand in Jakku. The other dreams; she had no idea, could she call them that. They felt more real, she dreamt of the power within her, the white glowing sense like angels lived inside of her and then a creeping sensation of darkness and shadows, a hand caressing her face and keeping her warm through the winter nights. 

Rey had talked about her dreams to Maz, the older woman was a good listener and seemed to intuitively know what Rey wanted to hear.

“There’s this power inside of me and I’m afraid, I don’t know what to do with it” Rey had whispered, worried she was giving away secrets.

Maz had stroked her face. Much like a mother would do. 

“The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead. Trust in your instincts, believe in you”. From that day on Rey had taken that message seriously, no longer fearing her dreams or the future.

“Devushka, are you here with me” Maz’s voice shook Rey from her reverie. The older woman muttered Coruscanti words under her breath. She did that when she was annoyed.

“Sorry Maz, I was just thinking back to the time when we first met and I recall you saying that I was too ugly and skinny” Rey put some humour behind her statement. 

Maz laughed out loud.

“I remember as well, it is good to see one of those things has changed, but you still need some curves on your hips and fat on them bones” she quirked back.

They both laughed some more as they continued setting the table.

“Will Unkar be joining us this evening, or will he continue to work himself down to the bone” Rey asked. She was wrong about Unkar, the day he saved her, she hadn’t had a good first impression of him. But she was glad it changed. He wasn’t the lazy oath she expected him to be. 

Most of the time he was away in the capital Coruscant, a 5-day journey away from Niimask. He never really said what he did officially for a living, but she kept her end of the bargain and worked on the imperial machinery and he taught her how to read and write.

A heavy knock came on the kitchen door. Rey straightened her dress as Maz went to get the door. Chewie stood in the doorway with his hand on a boy’s shoulder. The boy looked to be the same age as Rey. He was taller than her that much she could tell

He lifted his eyes from the floor and looked straight at Rey. Her face softened and she smiled at him hoping it would cheer him up. The smile he gave her back didn’t show in his sad, brown eyes.

“Rey, this is Finn, he is the new orphan here so please look after him until he gets settled” Chewie uttered. Without thinking Rey walked to him and grabbed his hand in hers. And that was the day she had a sibling.

5 YEARS LATER

A pillow whacking her in the face woke Rey up. With her eyes still shut she threw the offending object at the wall. 

“Rey, you have negative 6 minutes before the dzheday walk through that door” Finn’s pleading voice pushed Rey into the realm of consciousness.

“Ahhh, that’s today, der’mo, der’mo” Rey scrambled from bed and rushed to the wardrobe to find something presentable.

“Finn, please I beg you try and stall Maz from letting them in, I’ll be down as fast as I can” Rey said panicking. Of all the days to be late, she blames it on that damn dream again of the shadow.

She quickly pulled on a long beige skirt and a white blouse, surely, she could forgo a undershirt if she put her cowl on. She ran down the steps catching up with Finn. 

“Damn it peanut, you really know how to leave it to last minute” he playfully shoved her. Ever since that day when he arrived at the orphanage they had become best friends, truthfully, he was like a brother to her. They told each other all their secrets, hopes and dreams.

Maz stood at the base of the stairs her arms crossed, a deep scowl set on her ageing face.

“Nice of you to join us Reyna, Finn has been up since 6 this morning helping me with breakfast, and of all days to be late, you know this is important and it reflects badly on master Plutt” Maz nagged on.

Rey twisted her fingers into her skirt, she knew she was in trouble when Maz used her full name. 

“I’m sorry, truly, I haven’t had much sleep” Rey said giving a lame excuse, but in all honesty, she had felt weaker with every passing day, not enough for it to be noticeable to anyone else though.

Maz sighed in annoyance and grabbed both of them and shoved them into the living room where they would receive the distinguished visitors. Finn held Rey’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Rey’s heartbeat was going crazy, the butterflies in her stomach were flying about like they were on fire and she felt too hot and clammy. This was such an important day not just for the orphanage but personally for herself, she might finally get answers.

The clock in the room struck 8 and not a minute passed the hour and the doors to the living room opened revealing a man and a woman. Finn and Rey saluted them like they were taught to do. The couple were Jedi, the elite fighting force of the second army, they were armed warriors with special gifts. 

The man stepped forward and bowed courteously at them. He wore a red kefta with gray embellishments signifying that he was a Jedi sentinel of the healing cast. He was quite a lot older than his companion who wore a blue kefta and red lace, she was a Jedi guardian with inferni powers. They were both stunningly beautiful and held themselves up with such decorum.

The man stepped forward.

“My name is Qui Gon-jinn and my companion is Ahsoka Tano”.

“Thank you for coming sir and mam, I am Maz the housekeeper of Unkar Plutt’s estate, may I introduce our two oldest orphans Rey Niimask and Finn Niimask. They were given the county’s name as neither of them have family names” 

The man spoke again.

“Where do they hail from?” 

Rey took a deep breath and answered. She did a tiny bow again, not knowing what else to do.

“I am from Jakku and Finn is from Endor” 

The young woman behind the Qui Gon lifted an eyebrow in surprise.

“Interesting, you both are from the outer terrains, I’m assuming you know quite a lot about survival, not like some of the spoilt potentials we have already spoken to, I for one respect that” she added snidely.

Qui Gon Jinn turned to Maz and bowed to her. She got the message as she walked out of the room and left the 2 orphans in the hands of the Jedi.

“Today we are here to explore if you have the ability to use the force. Every orphan in this realm once they 21 are given the Jedi examination. I don’t know how much you know of the Jedi order.” Qui Gon asked.

Rey and Finn shook their heads, the Jedi were elusive, secretive at best.

“There are 3 groups of the Jedi order, the Opekun-jedi guardians, Ahsoka is an inferni meaning she can manipulate fire, I am a Chasovoy-jedi sentinel, I have the power to heal, and the third order the Konsul’skiy-jedi consular. To put this in simple terms guardians control the elements, sentinels control life and death and consulars can manipulate objects.” Qui Gon jinn seemed to take a deep breath, how many time had he been asked to iterate all this information.

Finn was deep in thought. 

“What happens if we are Jedi” he asked. This time it was Ahsoka that replied.

“You will be taken to the Coruscant where you will attend the Jedi academy and learn to control your powers, you will live, work, study and fight with us” Ahsoka said, matter of factly, she seemed proud of her status.  
“If you are not Jedi, as tradition demands you will be conscripted into doing 3 years of mandatory serving in the first army with the other ne-dzhedai” 

The two Jedi swapped placed Ahsoka in front of Finn and Qui Gon in front of Rey. It was time for the examination. It was very simple and took around a minute. 

There was an awkward silence before Qui Gon spoke again.

“We have done the examination, when the two of us pushed against your subconscious with the force… we felt nothing, neither of you are Jedi” Qui Gon looked disappointed for a moment.

“However not to despair, you can serve the country in other ways, Finn you are appointed as a tracker and Rey you are appointed as a mechanic, I wish you both well” The two Jedi bowed again, before turning and leaving.

Ahsoka looked back.

“Pity, I lost the bet” 

The door shut behind them. Finn squeezed Rey’s hand in relief.

“You hear that, we are just regular normal people, and we get to stay together.” Finn laughed and hugged Rey tightly, he was happy so why was Rey struggling to keep herself together.

She hugged him back harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glossary of Russian/Ravkan terms
> 
> Kvas-Vodka
> 
> Vino-Wine
> 
> Lyubovnitsy- Mistress
> 
> Niimask- Based off Niima outpost 
> 
> Devushka- Girl (Maz commonly uses this)
> 
> Coruscanti- Language of Coruscant. This replaces the city of Ravka and and the Ravkan language in the book series
> 
> Dzheday- jedi
> 
> Der'mo-shit
> 
> Kefka- item of clothing similar to a coat- term from the books.
> 
> Inferni- The class that manipulate fire.
> 
> Opekun- Jedi guardians
> 
> Chasovoy- Jedi Sentinels
> 
> Konsul'skiy- Jedi consulars
> 
> Ne-dzhedai-non Jedi users (Normal people)


	3. Unwelcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Finn set off to the shadow fold, this is their first mission since being conscripted. Rey has a very bad feeling.

On the edge of a crowded road, Rey looked down onto the rolling brown fields and abandoned settlements of the Tatooine valley and got her first glimpse of the shadow fold. The regiment was a two weeks march from the military encampment at Serenno and the autumn sun was warm overhead, but she shivered in her military tunic as she eyed the dark haze that was a stain in the environment.

A heavy shoulder slammed into her from behind. Rey stumbled cockling over on her ankle.

“Hey, watch it” Shouted a soldier

“Why don’t you watch yourself” she snapped back and took some satisfaction from the surprise that came over his broad face. People particularly big men carrying blasters don’t expect lip from a skinny thing like Rey. Although she was tall for a female, almost everyone here was taller than her perhaps apart from Finn, must have been the malnourishment as children or so she theorised.

The soldier got over it quickly and gave her a dirty look as he adjusted the pack on his back then disappeared into the crowd of horses, men, carts and wagons streaming over the hill and into the valley below.

Rey quickened her steps trying to peer through the crowd. She’d lost sight of the brown flag of the surveyors and mechanic cart hours ago, she just hoped she wasn’t too far behind and get a mouthful from the senior cartographer. As she walked, she took in the green and gold smells of the wood, the soft breeze at her back. Before coming to Niima she had never seen so much green. They were on the Mos Eisely the road that had once led all the way from Hanna city to the wealthy port cities on Coruscant’s western coast. But that was before the shadow fold.

She glanced again at that smudge on the horizon and had to suppress a shudder. She had seen the shadow fold on many maps, a black slash that had severed Coruscant from its only coastline and left it landlocked. And then there were the maps that just showed the shadow fold as a narrow lake and called the Cantonica, a name intended to put those crossing it at ease.

That might fool some sailor who didn’t know any better, but it was very little comfort to her. Coruscant’s only link to the outside world-to weapons, trade, the hope of survival lay through the fold. They would cross because they had to, was ordered to do so but she didn’t like it not one bit.

She tore her attention away from the sinister haze hovering in the distance and looked down onto the ruined farms of Tatooine. The valley had once been home to wealthy estates and moisture farms. One day it was a place where farmers tended crops and sheep grazed in green fields. The next a dark slash had appeared on the landscape a swathe of nearly impenetrable darkness that grew with every passing year and crawled with horrors. Where the farmers had gone, their herds, crops homes and families no one knew.

Stop it she told herself firmly. You can do this. People have been crossing the fold for years. she took a deep breath to steady herself.

“No freaking out in the middle of the road” said a voice close to her ear as a heavy arm landed across her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. Rey looked up to see Finn’s face, a goofy smile in his warm brown eyes as he fell into with her.

“C’mon what you trying to do get trampled in the middle of the road” Finn laughed more to himself, she could only bare a quick upturn of her mouth.

“That’s part of my plan you see to be trampled into the ground so much so that I become a plant and never cross the fold” she joked half-heartedly.

Finn nodded in understanding, humouring her “I see I can shove you under a cart if that would help, I think you’d be a beautiful sunflower”

“I’ll think about it” she grumbled but still felt her mood lifting at the same. Finn had grown up in the years she had known him. A pretty dark-haired girl strolled by and waved throwing Finn a flirtatious glance over her shoulder.

“Hey Paige” he called “see you later”

Paige giggled and scampered off into the crowd. Finn sighed. “Hey why don’t you walk with her, get to know that group of girls, you are trying aren’t ya” Rey frowned.

“I tried but I don’t think they like me much” she said drily. She had liked Paige at first. When Finn and she left the orphanage at Niima to train for their military service in Serenno, Rey had been nervous about meeting new people. But the girls had been happy to befriend her, Paige amongst them. Those friendships lasted as long as it took for her to figure out that their interest lay in her proximity to Finn and besides most girls didn’t understand her brand of strangeness.

Finn stretched his arms out and seemed to bounce as he kept up with her pace.

“Are you ok?” Rey asked, she knew Finn was always a happy guy, but this was ridiculous. He noticed her exasperated expression and smirked. “Someone has to be happy enough for the both of us and that’s obvs gonna be”

“Even at a time like this”

Finn laughed” You worry too much. King Snoke sent a whole group of fire jedi to cover the skiffs and even a few of those weird heartrenders. We have our blasters” he said patting the one on his back.

“A blaster won’t make much difference if there’s a savage attack”

Finn shot her a bemused glance. “What’s the matter with you lately, you’re even grumpier than usual, and you look terrible, you bummed that you’re just like the rest of us instead of super special and powerful.

“Thanks, I haven’t been sleeping well”

He waggled his eyebrows “Your mysterious lover keeping your dreams on other things, what else is new.

Rey blushed “I regret ever telling you about this”

“Hey if you can’t tell your best friend sexy dreams and fantasies who can you tell”

“Anyway, moving on from this conversation, I have this… this feeling and it hasn’t been wrong before”

Finn frowned, he paused to ponder. Maybe he should listen to her, there was something about Rey, something that she’d always had. The times someone knocked on the door to the orphanage and even events that would happen in the future, she foresaw.

Without realising she’d stopped walking frozen in place unable to shake the bad feeling. The ports of west Coruscant lay on the other side of the fold-wealth, opportunity the blue infinity of the Emerald sea, Rey had never seen an ocean before. She tried to be excited, but just couldn’t shake the feeling, this very bad feeling.

Finn wandered back to her, rested his hands on her slim shoulders and gave them an overexaggerated shake.

“Rey I’m not ignoring your concern, but I think we’ll be fine”

“You can’t know that”

“Look at me, I know you’re scared, I am too but we’re going to do this, we always have each other’s backs.

They hugged quickly and marched on with purpose.

“See there you go; you look like bottled up sunshine when you smile”

She rolled her eyes” Will you shut up.

She turned to give him a playful punch but before she could hands grabbed her lifted her entirely off the road. A clatter of hooves and shouts split the air. Rey was stood on the verge of the road as a huge black coach roared past scattering people before it as they ran to avoid the pounding hooved of the black horses. Beside the whip wielding driver perched two soldiers in grey coats.

The darkling. There was no mistaking his black coach or the uniform of his personal guard-the knights of Ren. Another coach this one red rumbled past at a slower pace. She looked up at Finn her heart racing from the close call.

“Thanks” Rey whispered, as she brushed the dust from her coat.

A third coach rolled by this one a pristine blue and a girl leaned out the window. She had a straight black hair, catty eyes and wore a shawl of mink. She scanned the watching crowd and her eyes lingered on Finn.

Finn chuckled under his breath, he was definitely handsome, and most people this far north had never seen someone with his skin colour.

“Did you see that” a voice bellowed. She turned to see Snap Wexley loping towards them. Snap was a large brunette with scraggly facial hair and a dorky face. Behind him was a slimmer young man with blondish hair, Rey didn’t know his name but recognised that they were both from Finn’s tracker unit.

“Man, you got lucky, they say jedi girls are freaks in the sheets” Snap said nervously.

Rey snorted.

Snap looked at her, he didn’t even realise she was stood there.

“Hey peanut, you still babysitting your bro”

Rey scowled at the nickname; it was one she only really allowed Finn to use.

“I hear the jedi tent is massive, and they have the best facilities, apparently they get a choice in meat, not the shit we’re given”

“Finn, go with them I need to get to the mechanics tent, I’ll see you in a bit. Rey awkwardly waved at the three men and trudged off to the grey worn tent. She turned to see them walking off their arms around each other’s shoulders laughing at something Finn had said.

It was good that Finn had made so many friends so quickly whereas she could barely keep a conversation going, Rey thought hoping that some of Finn’s charm would rub off on her and she could have some girly friends.

Theed wasn’t much to look at. According to Lor san tekka it had been a little market town in the days before the shadow fold, little more than a dusty main square and an inn for curious travellers. But now it had become a kind of port city, growing up around a permanent military encampment and the drydocks where the sand skiffs waited to take passengers through the darkness to west Coruscant.

Rey passed taverns and pubs and what seemed to be a brothel that catered to the military and the first army, she hadn’t seen any jedi go in. There were shops selling blasters, crossbows, torches, maps all necessary equipment for a trek across the fold. Entering the grey canvas tent, she felt herself relax for the first time since they’d started this journey.

There was a broken engine in front of her that she started to tinker with absent minded.

“Where have you been?” Beaumont whispered to Rey.

“Nearly getting trampled by the darkling’s coach” she replied flippantly. Beaumont and Rey were both junior mechanics, they job was to assist the senior cartographer-Lor san tekka on the durability of the sand skiffs on different terrains.

Beaumont drew in an excited breath. “Really did you see him, what does he look like?”

“No, of course not too busy trying to get to the side of the road.”

“Tell me about the coach” he pressed on. Rey told him everything about the coaches deciding to leave the jedi girl out of it.

By the time they were finished in the tent, it was already becoming dark. They finished the last bits of alterations and walked to the food tent where they stood in line for some stew thing or whatever the cooks passed it off as. Rey ate the stew in silence, listening to Beaumont and the others exchange camp gossip and pleasantries. Beaumont insisted Rey retell the story of the jedi coaches and it was met by the usual mix of fascination and fear that greeted any mention of the darkling.

“He’s not natural” said one of the cartographer girls.

Beaumont sniffed “please spare us your superstition

She ignored him and continued. “It was a darkling who made the shadow fold to begin with”

“That was hundreds of years ago” protested another surveyor. “and that darkling was completely mad

“This one is just as bad”

Rey stayed quiet throughout the whole exchange; she didn’t like passing judgement until she knew the truth for herself. As if on cue a raucous burst of laughter surprised Rey. She looked over her shoulder to see Finn sat with the other trackers.

Beaumont followed her gaze to the table. “How did you become friends anyway, you’re clearly not blood related”

Rey gave him an indignant stare “We aren’t blood related, but we grew up together at the same orphanage and raised as brother and sister

“Do you have any thing in common”

Rey shrugged, they had plenty in common like their shared trauma of having no family, the loneliness, the memories of playing more than doing their chores.

They cleared the plates and drifted out of the food tent. On the way back they took a detour which took them past the jedi camp. The pavilion really was unbelievable, and it was clear who King Snoke favoured for his army. Hidden somewhere between the blues, reds and purples was the darkling’s tents guarded by the red cloaked jedi and the darkling’s personal guards.

He travelled constantly between the capital and the military outposts. He must have come to Theed to oversee the crossing. When Beaumont had looked his fill, they winded their way back to the quarters. There was a sense of dread and panic as they entered the tent. Some were already asleep, others whispering amongst themselves.

Rey unfurled her bedroll on a narrow cot, removed her boots and hung her coat. Then she wriggled down into the fur lined blankets and stared up at the roof waiting for sleep. She stayed that way for a long time until the lamplights had all been extinguished and the sounds of conversation gave way to soft snores and the rustle of bodies.

Tomorrow if everything went as planned, they would pass safely through to west Coruscant and she would get her first glimpse of the Emerald sea. There Finn and the other trackers would for coveted creatures that could only be found in the west. Rey would stay with the mechanics in Ryloth to finish her training and help build and restore machinery. And then of course she’d have to cross the fold again in order to return home.

She was still awake when she heard it. Tap tap.

Rey was already slipping out of her bedroll and shoving her feet into the boots. She grabbed her coat and crept out of the barracks as quietly as she could.

The cold air stung her cheeks, and she buried her chin in the collar whishing she’d taken the time to layer up. Finn was sitting on the steps his back to her. Beyond him Snap and the other guy passed a bottle back and forth beneath the glowing lights of the footpath

Rey scowled “Please tell me you didn’t wake me up to inform me that you’re going to the jedi tent. What do you want advice?

“You weren’t sleeping, probably too busy dreaming of your man in black.”

Rey’s face went bright red, the others laughed loudly. Finn realising what he had said gave her a sheepish look. She shrugged it off not wanting to show how it hurt her feelings that he had told his friends something personal about her, what else had he said.

The other two boys sat laughing and chatting amongst themselves, she could tell with how inebriated they were that they were going to suffer tomorrow when crossing the fold and not because of potential death.

Finn grabbed her hand and pulled her down on the log, he moved his thumb over her hand in apology.

“I’m sorry I had a stupid moment, what were you really doing” he said in hushed tones.

“Just thinking about the crossing, I just can’t sleep, this feeling is going crazy like its desperately trying to tell me something”

They sat in silence watching their breaths dance in the cold air. Finn looked down at the cup of vodka in his hands “I guess I’m nervous too, but hey nothing can be as bad as Maz’s punishment right” Finn gave a light-hearted laugh.

Rey giggled a little “I miss her I know it’s only been a month, but I fear that I will never see her again after this”

Suddenly he reached out and took her hand. “This time tomorrow we’ll be sitting in the harbour looking at the ocean drinking vodka”

Rey nodded her head to the two boys. “They buying”

“Just you and me” Finn said

“Really”

“It’s always just been you and me, Rey”

For a split instance Rey wanted to grab Finn’s hand, steal a horse and gallop away in the middle of the night, escape this, escape it all live somewhere with a farm, new identities.

But as she felt Finn stand up and march away with his friends towards the jedi tent she knew that they would be no persuading him, he belonged here, he loved the adventure, she not so much.

“Wish us luck” he called over his shoulder

And with that they disappeared in between the tents and horses. She tiptoed back to her barracks and snuggled back into her bedroll. For how long this could go on for, she couldn’t follow him around forever, he would eventually have his own life settle down with someone and move on.

She would be alone again trying to make sense of her personal world and the one she lived in. Rey lay in the dark watching the ceiling of the tent flap around softly in the cold breeze. She shivered, although she was terrified of tomorrow her eyelids refused to stay open much longer, just before she drifted, a warm hand cradled her and she felt a loving warmth at her back, isn’t this nice Rey thought before sleep chased her into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs for this chapter
> 
> The war we made- Red
> 
> Tears of gold- Faouzia
> 
> Waiting game- BANKS


	4. Don't make friends with the dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Finn is critically injured, Rey's hidden power is unleashed. Instead of the death she was expecting something much worse: meeting the darkling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year!!! I hope everyone has a better year
> 
> This is an extra long chapter 
> 
> Trigger warnings
> 
> This chapter contains violence, gore some horror elements. There is also a reference to suicide.

The morning was surreal: breakfast, a brief trip to the mechanics tent for last minute check-ups then the chaos of the dry dock. Rey stood with the rest of the surveyors and mechanics waiting their turn to board one of the small sand skiffs. Behind them the large town of Theed was waking up and going about its business. Ahead lay the strange shifting darkness of the fold.

The skiffs were loaded with grain, timber and raw cotton for trade but on the trip back they would be stocked with spice, blasters and all manner of finished goods that passed through the seaports of west Coruscant.

The skiff’s deck was equipped with little more than a sail, railing and a basement where they kept the supplies. Each skiff was flanked by heavily armed soldiers and two jedi guardians in blue keftas. The silver embroidery at their cuffs and the hems of their robes indicated that they were squallors those who could manipulate air and wind.

Non jedi were armed with blasters and overseen by a captain lined the railings. Between them stood more jedi but instead their cuffs were lined red, they were inferni much like the woman who had come to see Rey a month ago.

At a signal from the skiff’s captain Lor san tekka the senior cartographer herded Rey and Beaumont and the rest of the assistants onto the skiff to join the other passengers. Lor San stood behind them, his weathered face grim and nervous, he eyed the deck of the boat and the little trap door that went to the basement of the skiff.

As they crowded on deck Rey caught a glimpse of Finn standing with the trackers, the other two on either side of him looking like they were going to be sick. They were all armed with rifles. A row of archers stood behind them the quivers on their backs bristling with arrows tipped in jedi steel. And some other jedi wielding beautiful coloured sabers. Rey had an army issue knife tucked into her belt; it was safe to say that she felt very unprepared if there was an attack.

A shout rang out from the foreman and the skiffs were pushed into the fold. Rey grabbed the railing to steady herself, her heart beating wildly inside her chest, her palms were loose with sweat on the rail as she tried to calm herself, her face red from unshed tears.

The squallors lifted their arms. The sails billowed open with a loud snap and the skiff surged forward into the fold. At first it was like drifting into a thick cloud of smoke but there was nothing just inky blackness. Sounds seemed to disappear, and the world became still. Rey watched the sand skiffs ahead of them slide into the darkness, fading from view one after another. Darkness fell around them, black weightless and absolute.

Rey clutched the railing tighter, her knees now starting to wobble under the pressure, her head swam with panic she was so close to screaming to be let off and to beg the captain to take them back. To her left she could hear Beaumont breathing as heavily as she was. Rey felt another presence to her right a young inferni jedi, it comforted her.

Rey didn’t know how long the skiffs were floating forward, the only sound the gentle rasp of sand on the hulls. Suddenly Beaumont’s hand grabbed her wrist tight.

“Listen” he whispered, and his voice was hoarse with terror. For a moment all she heard was a steady hiss. Then somewhere out in the darkness, faint murmurings and flapping of wings and red eyes penetrated the darkness.

Rey grabbed Beaumont’s arm and clutched the hilt of her knife with the other one. She heard the sound of triggers being cocked and sabers being activated and beams of coloured light lit up the space. They waited listening for the sound of wings and whispers to get louder. For a moment Rey heard her name whispered in a breath tracing her cheek. Then the sky lit up.

“Burn them” The command rang out and an explosive whoosh as rippling blooms of flame erupted from the jedi’s hands. In the firelight Rey saw them, disfigured shadows looking like people enveloped the skiff, their eyes blazing red, skeletal wings brushing empty air, their ghastly mouths opened revealing rows of sharp teeth and cut out tongues.

They were more demonic than the books portrayed them to be. Hundreds of them flocked the skiffs. Shots rang out, archers let fly and the shrieks of the Sith split the air high and horrible. They dived. Rey heard a shrill wail and watched in horror as a soldier was lifted from his feet and carried into the air kicking and struggling. The Sith holding him was set on fire and dropped the man. He was already dead, his neck completely ravaged from the Sith’s claws and his body distorted in impossible shapes.

Rey and Beaumont huddled together crouched low against the railing clinging to their flimsy knives and muttered their prayers as the world dissolved into a nightmare. All around them men shouted people screamed, soldiers were locked in combat with the massive writhing forms of winged beats and the unnatural darkness of the fold was broken in fits and starts by bursts of golden jedi flame.

Then a cry to Rey’s left. She gasped brokenly as Beaumont’s arm was yanked away. In a spurt of flame, she saw him clutching at the railing with one hand. She saw his howling mouth, his wide terrified eyes and the monstrous thing that held him, its wings beating maddingly trying to yank Beaumont off the railing. The claws were sunk deep into his back, its claws wet with his blood.

Beaumont’s hand slipped on the railing; Rey lunged for his hand trying with all her might to yank him towards her.

“Hold on, don’t let go, saints please don’t let go” Beaumont’s face was contorted in pain, his face red and blotchy with tears. The Sith leaned towards Rey its face mere inches away, red intelligent eyes locked on to hers, its mouth wide.

“Rey…naaa” it garbled; Beaumont looked terrified for her. Then sharp unbearable pain shattered the silence, the Sith had torn its claws into her shoulder and pushed her back and with her last bit of strength dissipated she let go.

“Beaumont” she screamed into darkness as his screams faded into the sounds of battle as the Sith carried him away into dark. Another burst of flame lit the sky, but he was gone.

Barely a minute went by when a gust of wings as another Sith swooped down on her. She flew backwards barely avoiding its grasp. The Sith lunged forward, its claws retracted, this one tilted its head to the side seemingly recognising her. The Sith stumbled yowling in rage and pain.

“Get up now, move” Finn shouted the command behind her, he forcefully grabbed her arm and yanked her up behind him. The Sith was still coming, Finn missed his second mark, it rushed at them claws slashing, its talons tearing across Finn’s back he screamed.

Rey caught hold of the blaster and shot several times at the head, it screeched and thrashed until it lay dead on the skiff its black blood painting the wood.

Rey on her hands and knees crawled through the blood, her hands grabbing at Finn trying to stem the bleeding.

“Finn” Rey sobbed; tears streamed down her cheeks. The air was thick with the smell of blood and burning flesh. She heard rifle fire, weeping, and the sound of something feeding. The flames of the jedi were growing weaker more sporadic less urgent. The skiff had stopped moving now.

Rey huddled over Finn cradling him in her arms, looking down at his blood covered face. His breathing was laboured, the blaster lay to the side of them. She knew what she had to do; Rey searched his face silently asking him for his permission. She could do this for the both of them, was she strong enough to pull the trigger to end their lives it was quick, better than being ripped apart slowly by the Sith.

She heard vomiting on the other side of Finn, Snap was looking terrified at half a body. A Sith had its eyes on him. Snap grabbed the body and threw it at them hoping to draw the Sith’s attention to the two instead. Rey huddled over Finn shielding his body with her own. Her hand was on the rifle now, she put it to his temple. She only had enough time for Finn, before the Sith got to them. Rey smoothed the hair from his face.

Rey kissed his forehead “I’ll meet you in the next life, I love you” Before she could pull the trigger, a deep bottled-up pressure erupted from her. Liquid fire travelled all around her body igniting all her nerves. Rey screamed in agony then the world went white. She threw her arms out her head towards the sky and light exploded from her entire building, she illuminated the darkness. From all directions horrible shrieks lit up the fold, lots of thuds landed on the skiff around them.

The Sith that was approaching them had fallen its head at Finn’s feet its body charred and smoking. Rey’s head connected with the deck and then nothingness.

Rey woke with a start. She could feel the rush of air on her skin. Overhead the sky was blue with white fluffy clouds, not the darkness. Was she in heaven?

She tried to sit up and a bolt of pain sliced through her shoulder. Rey found herself looking down a rifle barrel. This wasn’t heaven.

“What the…” she snapped batting it aside. The soldier swung the rifle back around jabbing it threateningly at her. “Stay where you are” he commanded.

“She’s awake” he shouted over his shoulder. He was joined by two more armed soldiers, the captain of the skiff and a jedi sentinel. With a thrum of panic, she saw that the cuffs of her red kefta were embroidered in black. What did a heartrender want with her?

She looked around. A squallor still stood by the mast arms raised driving us forward on a strong wind, a single soldier by his side. The deck was slick with blood in places. Dead bodies littered the space, some with gunshot wounds in their head and others sliced and clawed apart. Where was Finn?

There were soldiers and jedi standing by the railings, bloodied singed and considerably fewer in number than when they had set out. They were all watching her wearily. Rey realised that the jedi and the soldiers were guarding her much like a prisoner.

There was a jolt as the skiff came around. The captain gestured at her with his rifle. “Up”

Rey got to her feet unsteady wincing at the pain in her shoulder. “Move” the captain commanded. The soldiers led her at rifle point from the skiff when it docked on land. She passed the other survivors acutely aware of their curious and frightened stares and caught sight of Lor san tekka babbling to a soldier.

As she stepped on to the dock, she was surprised that they were back in Theed. They hadn’t even made it across the fold. As the soldiers marched her up the main road, people turned from their work to gawk. Her mind was whirring searching for answers and finding nothing. Had she done something wrong in the fold? Broken some kind of military protocol? And what the hell happened in the fold; she was sure she had died. The wounds on her shoulder throbbed. These thoughts were driven from her mind as they approached the officer’s tent. The captain called the guards to a halt and stepped towards the entrance. The jedi girl reached out a hand to stop him. “This is a waste of time; we should proceed immediately to – “

The captain shrugged off the girl’s hand a sneer on his ageing face. “Don’t touch me you monster” For a moment the heartrender stared at him her eyes momentarily flashing yellow then she smiled coldly and bowed. “Of course, Kapitan, wouldn’t want to upset your sensitive temperament”

The captain looked like he was going to say something else then turned back to the tent. From that tense stand-off Rey was reminded of her encounter with the jedi who had examined her, was it a requirement of the jedi to be sassy?

The captain was called forward and disappeared into the tent. Rey was left alone with the jedi girl who was now studying her interestingly. The tent flap opened, and she was horrified to see the captain emerge with colonel Windu. What could she have possibly done that would require the involvement of a senior officer?

The colonel peered at her his weathered faced grim. “What are you”

Rey saluted slowly trying to lessen the impact on her wounded shoulder. “Assistant mechanic Reyna Niimask. Royal corps of mechanics and surveyors.”

He cut her off before she could finish. “What are you?”

She blinked not understanding the question “I…I’m a mechanic with specialist knowledge of imperial machinery, sir”

Colonel Windu looked to the jedi girl who was currently smirking at the conversation. He grunted at her and she grabbed Rey’s arm and marched her forward. The rifle was gone from her back now, but she felt more unsafe with the heartrender at her side.

Rey’s eyes widened, as she spotted the multi coloured tents coming into view. No, they couldn’t be, it makes no sense. But as the huge black tent loomed larger and larger before them there could be no doubt about where they were going. The entrance to the jedi tent was guarded by more heartrenders and the knights of ren who made up the darkling’s personal guard. The knights weren’t jedi, but they were still frightening with their heavy-duty weapons and helmets.

The jedi girl let her arm go and wandered into the tent alone, the non-jedi soldiers waited outside with Rey. After what felt like an eternity the girl returned and nodded at the captain and colonel Windu. Rey’s legs felt like jelly, what did the darkling want with her. She didn’t even believe desertion of the army carried such a stern parade. The darkling was the right-hand man of the king and the commander of the second army he was the highest ranked person in the entire camp.

Her legs pushed on past the entrance. Rey gasped out loud at the beauty surrounding her. The tents inner walls were draped with cascades of silk that caught the glimmering candlelight from chandeliers sparkling high above. The floors were covered in rugs and furs. Along the walls shimmering silken partitions separated compartments where jedi clustered in their vibrant kefta. Some stood talking, others lounged on cushions drinking. Two pairs were playing chess and even one couple were kissing in the corner trying to hide unsuccessfully.

The soldiers marched her down a long-carpeted aisle at the end of which she could see a black pavilion on a dais. A ripple of curiosity spread through the tent as they passed. The jedi stopped their activities to gape at her. By the time they reached the dais the tent was all but silent. In front of the black pavilion ministers wearing the king’s crest and some heartrenders clustered around a long table spread with maps.

At the head of the able was an ornately carved, high backed chair and upon it lounged a figure in a black kefta. Only one jedi wore black. Colonel Windu bowed to the man and spoke to him in low tones. Rey felt her breaths come rapid. This was the darkling. She couldn’t see his face he was wearing a similar helmet to his personal knights, but she could tell he was tall and well… massive.

Movement from the dais alerted Rey out of her flustering. The ministers sat down and watched her. Colonel Windu took a spare seat. The darkling’s large gloved hands went to his helmet and with a little noise he slid it free. Rey stared and if she wasn’t so afraid, she’d have been drooling. This man was hauntingly beautiful, he had been commanding the jedi since before she was born but he only looked a few years older than her.

Rey searched his face, she felt like she knew him from somewhere. He had black wavy hair that curled close to his shoulders, his mouth was plump and kissable and his eyes, Rey was lost in them. They were brown almost black but with a liquid mercury rim around his pupil. She’d never seen eyes like it. Jedi’s eyes changed colour when they used their power or if they felt strong emotions but most of the time their eyes were normal.

A high-pitched annoying laugh sounded from the crowd that had formed near her at the base of the dais. She recognised the beautiful girl in blue the one from the jedi guardian coach who had looked at Finn with fondness. She whispered something to a girl sat next to her and they both laughed again. Rey’s cheeks burned as she looked down at herself. Her army coat was ripped in places, her white military blouse was soaked in dried blood, parts of it flaking off. Her hair had come loose from its usual three buns and her face was caked in more blood and soot from the fires.

Rey lifted her chin and stared the girl down. So, what she’d just been in a war zone and was surprisingly still alive. The other girl lifted a finely plucked eyebrow in challenge.

Colonel windu’s voice dissipated the silence in the tent. “Bring them” Rey turned to see more soldiers leading a battered and bewildered group of people into the tent. Among them was Lor san tekka, the scumbag Snap and then Finn. Rey nearly collapsed in relief, he was tired looking and leaning on another tracker for support, but he was ok.

Finn smiled weakly at Rey, he looked back at the dais and frowned. Rey followed Finn’s stare back at the pavilion and her elation withered quickly giving way to fear and fascination. The darkling was staring at her intensely. He was still listening to Colonel Windu, but his gaze was focused… it was hungry.

Colonel Windu looked at the exhausted half-dead survivors pile into the tent. “Report” he ordered. The captain stood to attention and answered in a no-nonsense tone.

“We weren’t in the fold for long when a large cluster of Sith descended on us, we were taking heavy casualties, I was on the starboard side fighting a particularly large Sith when… there was this light, a piercing brightness like looking at the sun. I’m not really sure what happened”

The crowd erupted into murmurs. The survivors nodding. Rey had seen the blaze of light too. “Then all of a sudden the Sith on the skiff just burned up like they were set on fire, the ones in the air rapidly dispersed and they left us alone, I ordered us back to land I didn’t want to risk it” The captain saluted as he finished his retelling of the events that happened.

Rey saw the darkling perk up and sit up straighter in his throne. “And the girl” he asked. Rey wished the floor would just swallow her up. The captain looked back at her confused. “I didn’t see the girl moi soverenyi”

The darkling raised an eyebrow turning to the other survivors. “Who actually saw what happened” His voice was cool, distant. The men looked at each other egging each other on to speak, afraid to be the first one to speak.

Lor san tekka stepped forward, his sparse brown hair was ruffled, he looked at least 10 years older. He licked his chapped lips tentatively before he spoke. “We were under attack, fighting all around us, I saw Beaumont taken by one of the Sith. She was holding on so tightly such impressive strength”

The captain held his hand up signalling for him to halt speaking. “Who is she”

Lor san smiled sadly at Rey before replying “Reyna Niimask one of the junior mechanics that works for me, Beaumont was her colleague.”

Not thinking Rey interrupted “And where were you, if you were near me why didn’t you help me pull Beaumont back onto the skiff, he might still be alive if you weren’t a coward”

There was a loud gasp of astonishment, it was rare even from someone in the first army to answer back to a superior figure, Rey didn’t care she was so angry that was now two betrayals she faced.

The darkling smirked loudly his strange eyes lighting up in amusement. “Well, are you going to answer her question Tekka, I am deigned to believe Miss Niimask over you, she does look worse off” he asked smugly. A few laughs sounded from the blue corner where the catty girl and her group was.

Lor san looked down at his feet “I was below deck there were some loose slats that I pried open to watch.” He said despondently realising himself how cowardice that was. This time even the captains gasped in anger, he admitted to hiding during combat, the punishment was severe and usually ended in a prison sentence.

Lor san glanced across the pavilion to the survivors and spotted Snap Wexley. They both nodded. Snap waddled over to stand in the aisle separating the room. His pointed a meaty finger at her. “It’s that bitch who should be punished, she was going to suicide herself and my best friend Finn, obviously she didn’t succeed since she started glowing like a fucking freak” he shouted, spit flying out of his mouth.

The tent was silent as everyone took in that piece of information. Rey turned to Finn for comfort, but he was too busy glaring at Snap. The sound of someone clearing their throat was the only noise. A jedi dressed in purple stood up, she was smaller than Rey, her dark hair bounced loose on her shoulders and she had a pale complexion. Out of all the jedi in the pavilion she looked the most dishevelled her beautiful vibrant purple kefta ripped in various places.

She walked to where Rey was standing and bowed gracefully at the darkling. The second army’s loyalty was to him not the first army. “Apologies for interrupting but I believe this gentleman has his story wrong” the young girl had a different accent that was difficult to pinpoint.

The darkling tilted his head allowing her to speak. “I was working on the skiff’s rigging creating more tension to allow us to move quicker through the fold. I was somewhat protected by the pattern of the ropes, but I saw the girl and the tracker fight valiantly against the Sith, he was clawed deeply across the back”. She took another deep breath her hands trembling at the sides.

“She covered his body with her own to protect him, his blaster was by his side I believe her plan was a mercy suicide from the Sith that was hunting them on the skiff.” Rey and Finn shared a tender look, his eyes swelling with unshed tears.

Snap tried to speak but the girl cut him off. “The Sith was originally hunting this man” she said haughtily indicating Snap. “He threw part of a severed body at the two of them to draw the Sith away from himself and mark them as bait as he got away and that is when she glowed and then fainted”

Finn’s eyes widened so much it was almost comical, outraged murmurs came from both sides of the army. Snap’s face was beetroot red in embarrassment from being called out.

A shrill laugh came from the corner. “This is absurd, what are you all suggesting that this nobody is a sun summoner” The girl in blue uttered, no one told her off for speaking out of term or announcing her presence to the darkling, judging by her position in the carriages before they had entered the fold and her elaborate kefta Rey deduced that this girl was either a higher figure than the rest of the jedi or the darkling’s lover. Rey subconsciously shuddered at the thought she really hoped the latter wasn’t the case.

“Enough” The darkling raised his voice enough to be heard by all. He wasn’t known for his mercy or his patience.

“Tracker what did you see, you were the closest to her” the full glare of the darkling was on Finn’s face.

Finn looked at Rey then back to the darkling. “The last thing I remember was the Sith crawling towards us, my body was numb from the pain, Rey was holding me, I saw the intention in her face, and I nodded my permission; I just wanted this pain to stop. And then just light, I thought she’d pulled the trigger and it was heaven but other than that I don’t know. We were tested at the same time if she was a jedi I would have known” Finn wobbled on his feet his arm still over another trackers shoulders.

The darkling held his hand up again to silence the commotion in the pavilion. “This has wasted enough of my time I will check myself”. He rose from his chair. He gestured and the soldiers stepped back leaving Rey alone to face him. The tent went eerily quiet not even a cough. Slowly he descended the steps, his elegant kefta and cape sweeping behind him like billows of smoke. He came to a halt in front of her.

Rey was a tall woman and even she had to crane her neck upwards to see his face. He was so close to her that she could smell his cologne or was that his natural scent.

“The girl I’ve heard so much about Reyna Niimask, what happened” he asked, his mercury eyes never leaving her face.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know anything this must all be a mistake.” Rey was starting to shake again she wasn’t sure if it was the proximity to him or the fear of the different ways, he could torture information out of her.

He considered her for a moment before pressing on “I like to think that I know everything that happens in Coruscant and if I had a sun summoner living in my country, I’d be aware of it”. Soft murmurs of assent rose from the crowd, but he ignored them.

“But somehow you saved us” He turned away from Rey to speak to the crowd in the pavilion.

“Regardless on the method used, this woman saved all of your lives, she does not deserve baseless accusations and slander” he glared at the girl in blue as he said that.

“But I will get to the bottom of this” he said turning back to Rey to study her more intently. “Hold out your arm” A cold spike of fear went through her, she looked around in panic not like anyone would dare to go up against the darkling. Shaking she held her slender arm out. His left hand held her much smaller one as the other one pushed up her sleeve. His gloved palms filled with black that pooled and curled through the air like ink in water.

“Now let’s see who you are” Darkness spread from his hands spilling in a black wave filling the room with darkness. Rey was blind, everything was gone. Only the darkling’s fingers on her wrist kept her fear from coming to the surface.

“Hmmm, you are so enchanting” he whispered to her. _Get out of my head_ Rey clenched her eyes shut. _There is nothing here for you_. A soft chuckle sounded in her ear

“Not so fast you know I can take whatever I want” Rey felt a hard pressure around her neck, her windpipe started to close. Pain and fear rushed through her, she cried out. The world exploded in blazing white light. The darkness shattered around them like glass. For a moment Rey saw the faces of the crowd their mouths wide with shock as the tent filled with shining sunlight. Finn’s face was awestruck, the first army looked terrified whereas the jedi looked intrigued and mystified by the light.

Rey’s legs gave way and the darkling caught her and pulled her up against his hard unyielding body. His mouth touched her ear softly “You need a teacher; I can teach you the ways of the force” He pulled away quickly and handed her to a knight of ren.

“Hux” shouted the darkling. A tall ginger haired heartrender rushed from the dais to his side. “get her to my coach, I want her surrounded by an armed guard at all times, take her to the palace and bring Rose and a healer” He ordered turning back to the strategy table.

Rey rushed forward unsteadily “Wait please I’m not who you think I am, I was tested I’m not jedi” she whispered desperately, already she was being pulled back from the guards. He regarded her then nodded his head. “Leave now”

Hux grabbed her arm roughly. “Come on now” The darkling still had his back to them. “Hux, mind your tone, she is one of us”

Rey looked over her shoulder searching the crowd. Finn was arguing with the captain. As if he felt her eyes on him, he met her gaze. She could see her own panic and confusion mirrored in his white face. Rey wanted to cry out to him, to run to him for safety but the next moment he was gone swallowed up by the crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs for this chapter:
> 
> Hurricane- Fleurie
> 
> Heroes fall- Hidden citizens, ESSA
> 
> The devil within- Digital Daggers


End file.
